Designer : Noa_Carmen
Software : Adobe
Basecodes: xXx

Enjoy your stay

And eventually, the school week draws to an end. Just like an anxious wait for the bathtub to finish draining itself and then rushing off for bed. Taking away all the day's troubles with the flowing water, the smell of shower foam pleasantly permeates your nose. You look at your saturated hair in the misted mirror, and proceeds to dry it off. And you wonder, how many times have I stared at myself in this mirror? When were the times your eyes contained sadness in them? And when were the times when a sparkling reflection of yourself presented itself? My tired soles find solace in the cool, flower-patterned floor tiles, and the ceramic walls seem to smile at me with vibrant blue, releasing the tension built up over a busy day. Never mind me, I'm just fantasizing about my dream bathroom. Yes, this is only fiction.

Stepping out onto a carpeted floor in the bedroom. The air-conditioner sends over its envoys of relaxation, and lavender fills the air. Having just bathed, the temperature is a bit chilly, but I like it. This way, I can crawl under my blanket, forgo everything and let this piece of fabric be my protection from the cold. One often forgets about the significance of little, small things around us. I do, too. And it's only ocassionally recall that I still have many loving people and things to fall back upon. From the comfort of my majestically white, plastic bedframe and light green blanket, my curious eyes look around the room, taking everything in once more with a voracious pore as if it was the first time laying my eyes upon this room. Isn't that...Isn't that the picture I took with my younger brother 20 years ago? I can still remember, he was only a year old, and that picture was taken to let the memory of the my first time carrying him be captured onto photos. It is still a luxury to look upon it now. Sigh, the lamp emitting a gentle glow of yellow is still working, huh? Just as well, I couldn't bear to replace it anyway, my mother bought it as a housewarming gift for me when I purchased my first house. The light bulb may not be fluorescent and does not assert eco-friendliness, but this yellow glow has already become the image which I see everytime I slowly drift into the cradles of sleep. Bringing into my dreams, my dear family, and the smile on my mother's pretty little face when she gave me this heartwarming present.

Tonight, I find that sleep eludes me prankishly. Without switching on the lights, I felt my way down the corridor and carefully descended the stairs. Why I did not just simply turn on the lights, you may wonder. Actually, it's just a cranky habit I've gotten since I was small. My father used to tease me a lot on my fear of darkness, his favourite comments included, "What? Are you afraid you'll touch a hoky-poky?", "Don't think I'll let you go to sleep on your bed if you don't help me throw out tonight's rubbish. You'll sleep IN the rubbish.". I chuckled then, laughing at the fact that darkness is like my second eyesight now, it brings serenity within myself. I wanted to say at that thought, "Father, can I throw the rubbish now?". Winks.

Downstairs at the kitchen, I got myself a glass of warm milk. It's a strategy my mother used to make me carry out every night, saying that it helps to bring about drowsiness. I listened to my own gulping at I downed the milk greedily, and knew that my mother was always right, always wanted the best for me. Good ol' mommy.

Out of all the furniture in my house, only my dining table stands out, but not really in a positive way. The whole thing was made of wood, and was chipped, splintered, and old. Although it was the most 'retro' piece of furnitureware inside this modern terraced house, it was also the one which held a lot of my pride. Because, I made this table together with my brother and father through manual labour four autumns ago. And now, it is the first day of autumn, how coincidental for me to be reminded of it now. A stray oak leaf had drifted in from outside, and the orange piece landed softly on the dining table. Considering that it was only the first day of autumn, the trees shed their leaves quite early. A refreshing change from all the years before. For once, I realised that however strange it is for a leaf to turn orange from its original colour of green, it is still unarguably ravishing. But sometimes I really prefer it to have remained green always, signalling that the long, hard winter shall never come. But when snowflakes fall as appointed, I know that nature has decided fate, never to be revised. But could change really mean the end, mayhap not. Acceptance to this change was also the sole reason why I could hang on till now, but the future remains misted.

The narrator in this short story is called John. His whole family, including his parents, brother, and an uncle were unmercifully clawed away by the grasps of death four winters ago by an unfortunate earthquake while on holiday in Japan, Tokyo.



I still have not yet completed my Newspaper Report from English class, yet here I am, writing some other narrative. Actually, just wanted to prove something. Not a Trigo. Identity, please. By writing this, I wanted to remind everyone, and most importantly myself, of the importance of everything and everyone that you love. I'm not a pessimistic person, and I'm not trying to associate death with loved ones before we can all know how to cherish them. So, I only hope that you enjoyed this story, and don't forget about......just about anything.